Do you feel excluded? : an explorative study of who the perceived typical shopping mall consumer is and if this consumer feels excluded from city centers

Sammanfattning: As the retail apocalypse is increasing, it is common to face stores without consumers in citycenters. E-commerce is one of the factors that has had a negative impact on physical stores,both in city centers and in shopping malls. It has been easier for shopping malls than forcity centers to fight the increased competition.The purpose of this thesis was to explore who the typical shopping mall consumer was andif this consumer felt excluded from city centers. Four concepts were investigated; consumerstereotype, place image, shopping experience and place attractiveness. A qualitative,method and an exploratory approach were applied, and the data was collected through anonline focus group and interviews.The findings showed that the perceived typical shopping mall consumer had seven traits;social, fun, curious, open, flexible, time thrifty, calm and patient, and four characteristics;young, families with children, females and formal styles/ fashion oriented. Furthermore,this consumer felt excluded as a shopper because of the limited supply and divided citycenter.The implication of this study was to understand who the typical shopping mall consumeris and, if and why he/she felt excluded. Hence, this can provide retailers in city centers withunderstanding of what factors affect the perceived typical shopping mall consumer’s choiceand thus will enable them to make their stores more welcoming also to the typical shoppingmall customer.The original value of this study is an understanding of the perceived typical shopping mallconsumer and if this consumer feels excluded from city centers, which has previously notbeen explored.